1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to image invertible objects and methods of making the same.
2. Related Art
Optical illusions rely on the ability of the brain to trick the eyes into recognizing unfamiliar shapes or patterns as something with which they are familiar. When a pattern is perceived by our eyes, the brain will first attempt to recognize it as something familiar by supplying or substituting any information missing from the pattern which would make it familiar, before trying to resolve unfamiliar images. For example, in "The Cheshire Cat & Other Eye-Popping Experiments on How We see the World," by Paul Doherty, Don Rathjen and the Exploratorium Teacher Institute, an optical illusion is described that takes advantage of this pattern-recognition ability, as well as another phenomena--that the eye-brain system is used to seeing nearby objects whiz by, whereas distant objects appear to follow at a slower pace. In the "Far Out Corners" experiment, a stationary cluster of three-sided partial cubes is illuminated from below, and made to appear is if they are moving when a viewer walks past the arrangement. Because solid cubes are objects with which our brains are familiar, the brain supplies the rest of the cube shape, even thought the partial cubes only have three sides. Therefore, because the brain incorrectly perceives the inside corner of the partial cube as the outside corner of a solid cube, the brain perceives the farthest corner of the partial cube as being the closest. In order to maintain this misconception, the brain perceives a rapid rotation of the cube as the viewer moves past the object.
Other types of optical illusion are described in "Gathering for Gardner II", by Jerry Andrus. The illusion of a "convex hour" is described, in which a two-dimensional outline of a house is created on paper, then cut out, folded and taped together to form a portion of a three-dimensional house. When viewed with one eye, the house appears inverted, thus, the term "convex house."
In another illusion, a two-dimensional image of the side of the bus is created on paper. The bus has two wheels located on its side. A two-dimensional image of a third wheel is placed away from the image of the bus. A separate two-dimensional image of the truck top is positioned along the perimeter of a portion of the bus, at approximately an angle of 45 degrees. Viewed at an angle, the tire located away from the perimeter of the bus is made to appear as if it is on the surface of the bus, overlapping one of the tires that is drawn thereon.
There are therefore provided three-dimensional image invertible objects having a high contrast, multicolored, and patterned surface that appear inverted when viewed with one eye, as well as methods of making the same.